Thanks to Cassian's exaggerated curvature, his trademark overly upright posture was slightly diminished.
“Really, you should be grateful for my patience.”
“How could I not realize how generous your heart is, miss?”
He was smiling sweetly as he complimented me kindly.
'...You seem to be enjoying it, Your Highness.'
It's been a year and a half since I became his assistant, and I'm starting to feel that this is all just a hobby for Cassian and a way to relieve his stress.
And the arrogant girl character I created based on my huge database of novels wasn't bad at all.
"Look at that, how inappropriate it is.
What family does that girl belong to to act like that in a place like this?"
“Look at her clothes, she seems to think that just wearing something expensive makes her noble.”
It was clear that they were trying to display their taste and criticize others.
“Che, if she treated her servants like this, her fate would not be good in the future.
Even if the servant was uess, she should have punished him secretly instead of making a fuss.”
"Yes, then you will go home and forget everything that servant did.
And look at his cunning features, isn't that face capable of seducing a naive lady?"
It wasn't just criticism, there was also hidden jealousy and resentment.
But this is the important part.
“Hooof, it seems like everything said about shopping in Ilium was complete nonsense.”
“You're right, miss.
You haven't used even a tenth of the money the master allocated you.”
“Right?
Even the jewelry here is of poor quality.
What a waste of time.”
I deliberately started bragging about how rich I am.
Since everyone was watching me, I didn't even have to raise my voice; However, I noticed that some of them began to pay special attention to my words.
"Even the Capital Casino was so boring.
Why isn't there anything fun?"
Then I raised my fan and hit Cassian on the shoulder.
"That's because you haven't checked well!
Does Dad's talk about not letting me get bored sound like a joke to you?"
“So I brought you here.
I heard that this cruise ship is offering rare things today.”
"What?
Then are they going to show mermaids?"
“N-no, not that much...”
knock-
I raised my fan and hit his shoulder again, but this time it was just loud and there was no real pain.
He looked like he was a little upset, but he didn't say anything.
'No matter what, I can't really slap my boss!'
Talking rudely and hitting him on the shoulder is one thing, but slapping his face?
Even if I'm in disguise, I know who he is!
How could he ask me something so cruel?
When I objected, Cassian raised the corner of his mouth slightly but quickly spoke as if to justify himf.
"But, at least… the ship looks nice, doesn't it?
You never enjoyed the Ilium cruise ships even though you've been here for a while."
"Hmph!
Do you think I'd enjoy riding something so old and backwards?"
'Sorry, Velma.'
I apologized internally to my friend after she said those words.
“Then look!
You need an invitation to come up!
What an incompetent servant you are.”
It's time to lure the prey.
I wondered for a moment if I would really have to hit him on the cheek, but before I could, a quiet, deliberate voice interrupted us.
“My dear lady, do not strain your voice unnecessarily.”
A man with a sly face approached us, folding his hands and bowing slightly.
“Even if the ship does not look interesting from the outside, the inside will undoubtedly dazzle your eyes.”
The man began to examine me quickly—my neck, my arms, my fingers, my ankles, which were visible for a moment, and my shoes.
He was evaluating the price of my clothes and whether or not my words were just empty bragging.
I pretended not to notice his sharp gaze and answered in a grumbling tone.
“It seems to me like a waste of time.
Are you the manager?
Can you guarantee what you say?”
“Of course, miss.
Tonight, we will provide you with truly dazzling sights.”
Then he whispered in a voice that Cassian could barely hear.
“We also have a special offer of handsome young men, and food so delicious it will make you have hallucinations.”
“Hmm...”
I maintained an indifferent expression, as if I was not interested.
“Hmm.
Also, there may not be mermaids, but there are very rare items going up for auction tonight.”
“All this talk, but I'm still not interested.”
I waved my hand carelessly.
“Don't be so harsh, miss, just give us some of your valuable time tonight.”
His eyes were filled with greed and desire.
“Normally, we only grant ship invitations to the highest nobility, but we would like to introduce them to you as a distinguished guest.”
What a liar.
However, I looked at the ornate invitation in front of me presented by the proud man, then slowly extended my hand.
“If it's boring, be prepared for the consequences.”
I let out a gentle warning as I pretended to hesitate before I picked it up.
Didn't I give them a chance?
After I delivered the invitation at the entrance to the ship, one of the employees handed us masks.
“Once you board this ship, you all go back to the beginning, where you have no identity.”
Then he continued his speech as if he were telling us a mysterious legend:
“Welcome to Delight, the place where you can abandon reason and morality.”
'What an idiot!'
The ship's name was originally inspired by my friend Velma, whom the Duchess personally named as her source of joy during her illness.
And now they dare to tarnish this name?
She shot a sharp look at the employee, and he was confused for a moment.
“What nonsense?
It looks like an ignorant person wrote this text without thinking.”
Of course, I did not forget to maintain the appearance of an arrogant girl, so I added a deliberate nag...
Before I could grab the mask given to me, Cassian quickly snatched it away.
“You promised that I would be the only one who would have the honor of touching your hand, miss.”
'When did we agree to this?!'
It was an unexpected improvisation from him.
“That's because you're too slow!”
Despite my surprise, I was able to keep up with him easily.
Then, as if in a pre-planned move, Cassian placed the mask on my face himf, making sure it wasn't skewed or uncomfortable.
There was a moment of silence in the place, as the atmosphere turned into something more mysterious after his movement.
But Cassian did not show any interest in the curious glances, but rather continued his behavior with complete confidence.
“As I expected, you are the most beautiful of all, miss.”
I heard some of the audience coughing softly, which means they noticed the growing tension.
“It seems he is trying to trick her into taking advantage of her.
We must not be fooled.”
“It's none of our business, they'll probably end up running away together in a cliche romance.”
Some people were trying to analyze his intentions, but I knew the truth very well.
'You seem to be giving up on acting, Your Highness...'
Quite simply, this is the real Cassian Artiz.
“It's a sore sight.”
As soon as we entered, I realized that the outside of the ship was designed in a manner befitting nobility, but the inside was filled with chaos and decadence.
Although the ship's operators were corrupt enough to steal money and tamper with records, they were afraid that their affairs would be revealed to the Duke if he visited Ilium.
“Yes, everything here is below your standards, miss.”
This meant that the environment was too harsh for Rose, who loved beautiful things.
Even after we boarded the ship, Cassian and I were careful how we spoke, having eyes and ears watching us.
We couldn't risk being fired before conclusive evidence was found.
I remembered that the official passenger capacity was about 150 people...
“There seemed to be two or three hundred people on board.”
“It seems so, and Miss doesn't like crowded places.”
Cassian mumbled as he scanned the place with his sharp gaze, as if he was catching every little detail.
“Did you notice something?”
“Looks like you're getting what you came for.”
A slightly evil smile appeared on his lips.
“There will be a lot of excitement, too.”
As I was receiving his accompaniment, I understood exactly what he meant.
In other words, there were only a few mages left on the ship, which means our trap had succeeded.
'As for our train… the Cassian Knights will take care of it, right?'
They were dealing with it in a very direct way, where terrorists would be treated as if they were assassins who targeted the royal family.
'Most people here are using illegal drugs.'
This ship was an illegal paradise for those rich and ambitious people looking for thrills, but in reality it is just a trap to drain their money before they are disposed of when they are no longer of use.
'That's why I played the arrogant rich girl.'
So that criminals fall into the trap in turn.
But what Cassian meant by “excitement” was something else.
“You are a really evil person.”
“Thank you for the compliment, miss.”
It caused a huge mess as soon as we boarded the ship.
It didn't take long until…
“The ship changes course in an abnormal way?!”
Some of the crew members started screaming anxiously.